(This caricature of Senator John McCain is by DonkeyHotey.)Is John McCain (R-Arizona) the most unpopular senator in the United States? That's the opinion reached by Public Policy Polling after completing their recent survey of the citizens of Arizona. And they seem to have the numbers to back up their assertion.
PPP did the survey of 870 Arizona voters between February 28th and March 2nd (and that survey has a margin of error of about 3.3 points). The survey included 403 Republican primary voters (and the margin of error for Republicans only is about 4.9 points).
McCain's approval numbers are upside down -- meaning more Arizona voters disapprove of him and the job he is doing than approve (30% to 54%). But that alone is not what distinguishes him from other senators. Some other senators also have an upside down approval rating. For instance, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) also has a poor approval rating overall (31% to 61%). But when you look at a demographic breakdown of Kentucky voters, you can see that the disapproval is not universal. Kentucky Republicans give McConnell a 47% to 41% approval rating.
That's not true with McCain. he is universally disliked by all groups of Arizona voters -- regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, or political affiliation (as the chart below shows). In fact, his disapproval by Republicans is a couple of points higher than among Democrats or Independents. If McCain runs for re-election (and I believe he will), it's a good thing he won't have to do it until 2016 -- because right now it is doubtful he could win. In fact, right now McCain trails his 2010 opponent (Richard Carmona) by 35% to 41%, and possible 2016 candidate Gabby Giffords by 35% to 42%.
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This same survey also queried Arizona Republicans on who their current preference for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination is, and just like in other states, no real leader emerged. Cruz came in first, but he had only 16% -- certainly nothing to brag about.
